Markets in the United States have clawed back a bit of the ground from their earlier losses overnight, after the release of a private sector report showing faster-than-expected jobs growth.

Figures from the ADP Research Institute show 215,000 private sector jobs were added to the US economy in December, which is the biggest increase since last February.

On average, economists were expecting a rise of 140,000.

The good result has fuelled optimism about tomorrow's official payrolls report from the US Labor Department.

At the start of the trading session, stocks were being sold off quite heavily, as investors took profits from yesterday's big rally.

Investors were also spooked by comments from some US Federal Reserve members that the central bank's quantitative easing program should be wound back sooner rather than later, with many wanting asset purchases to stop well before the end of the year.

Analysts were largely caught off guard by the comments.

"The minutes of the Federal Reserve's December monetary policy meeting revealed a somewhat surprising level of concern among the ranks of central bankers regarding the long-term impact of the bank's asset purchase program, or quantitative easing," Omer Esiner, chief market analyst at Commonwealth Foreign Exchange in Washington DC, told Reuters.

Fed watchers say the minutes show a higher-than-usual degree of division among the central bank's committee members.

"Some members want more accommodation for as long as it takes, some want more but to start winding it down while others have got the heebie-jeebies about the size of the balance sheet," Jason Conibear, trading director at Cambridge Mercantile, told Reuters.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended up closing down just 21 points to 13,391, the S&P 500 Index lost 3 points to 1,459, and the Nasdaq fell 12 points to 3,100.

Across the Atlantic, three stocks fell for every one that rose in the Euro Stoxx 50 Index overnight.

The broader Stoxx Europe 600 Index gained 0.5 per cent to close at its highest level since February 2011.

London's FTSE 100 Index finished 20 points higher at 6,047.

Australian shares are set to open fairly flat - in futures trading, the Share Price Index 200 was down 3 points to 4,713.

The Australian dollar had also eased slightly - it was buying 104.66 US cents around 8:55am (AEDT).

West Texas crude oil was worth $US92.81 a barrel, Tapis was being quoted at $US118.39 a barrel, and spot gold had edged down to $US1,664 an ounce.